


Coming Right Up

by bunbunko



Series: Anderson's Bakery AU [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Case Fic, Fluff, Gavin Reed Redemption, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-22 06:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15576141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunbunko/pseuds/bunbunko
Summary: Following the Android Revolution, Gavin didn't see much change in his neighborhood. That's about to change when he saw a new bakery dubbed "Anderson's Bakery".An overly complicated Bakery AU where Gavin is still a detective, but not working in Detroit.





	1. A Regular Coffee

Gavin thought about how very stereotypical of him, a cop buying donuts. But fuck it, there's a new bakery opening along the way to the station, and he'd be stupid not to give it a shot. If their stuff is good, it'll save him 15 minutes each morning because the deli he used to buy breakfast from is further away.

The bell jingled when Gavin pushed the door open. How quaint, he thought. Not many shop has an actual bell like that these days. The bakery is mostly deserted, probably because it's just opened and the sun isn't even fully up yet.

A quick look at the menu board revealed that the bakery also serves a large variety of coffee. Neat.

A man with a neatly slicked back black hair was stocking up the display. The donuts are colorful but still looked very appetizing and designed tastefully.

Gavin cleared his throat when he didn't turn around and man the cashier. He felt like an asshole but he needs to arrive at the station early.

"Oh, sorry. Welcome to Anderson's Bakery, can I take your order?" the man turned around and placed the baking tray on an empty counter. He wiped his hands on his apron as he approached the cashier to take Gavin's order.

Gavin's eyes immediately focused on the LED on his temple. It's blue and occasionally blinking. There's no mistaking it, this man is an android.

"What the fuck, they hire plastic pricks here?" Gavin scowled, suddenly not regretting being impatient earlier.

"Oh, I co-own the place. Do you have any problem with that, sir?" the android said, still calmly but it's LED is blinking yellow.

"Yes, fuck. I'll just take my leave," Gavin said, already walking away.

"Wait! Don't you want to try some of our products, at least?" the android suddenly called, stopping Gavin on his track.

"What? No!"

Gavin's stomach decided to betray him and made a loud growling noise. He did skip dinner last night so he's starving.

The android raised its eyebrows at that. Gavin cursed under his breath, heat already creeping up to his face.

"Alright, fine. I'll take your glazed donut and a cup of coffee," he grumbled. "Cash."

The android smiled an impossibly bright smile at him. It turned off the skin on its hand to use the cashier, bringing up his total. A pretty reasonable price, but Gavin could care less at this point.

"Coming right up," it said as it turned back to make his coffee.

As he waited, Gavin took a good look at the place. It's nicely decorated, must be expensive. He wondered where did it got the money to buy the place anyway. Android revolution was mere months ago, there's no way one android could have made enough money to open a place like this in that time.

But it did say that it is the co-owner. The partner must be some kind of rich quirky human.

"Here you go, one coffee and one glazed donut, Mr..."

It's clearly fishing for his name. Ah what the hell, he's not coming back anyway.

"Reed."

It excitedly wrote down his name on the coffee cup with a black sharpie. He suspected that it's only asking for his name to do that. It's kind of adorable.

Gavin mentally slapped himself for thinking that. Androids being adorable? Nonsense.

"Thank you! Please come again!"

Gavin slapped down some cash, grabbed his breakfast and fled the place as quickly as he could.

He's never stepping a foot in that place again.

Gavin arrived at the station faster that he used to. At least there's that.

As soon as he sat down on his desk, he took a big gulp of his coffee that is now not piping hot so it won't burn his tongue.

And promptly blown away by the taste. Holy fuck, that is the best coffee Gavin ever had in his entire miserable life.

"What the fuck," he muttered under his breath

Gavin hated to admit it, but he changed his mind. He's going to go there again everyday. Fuck Reynold's Deli, their coffee is pure garbage.

His day went pretty uneventful. Fowler is retiring and is being replaced by someone else. Captain Hank Anderson. Promoted and transferred here after he handled the android revolution quite well. "Well" being he defended his android partner publicly until a bunch of hate group came and burned his house to the ground. Still, he defended a bunch of PC200 and PM700 from being dismantled by angry mob of people and now he's being rewarded for it.

Gavin couldn't help but feeling bad. As much as he hates androids, he wouldn't go burning an old man's house like that. But President Warren came and aided him personally or something. The revolution hurts her political career fiercely, so it's probably just a political move so she'll look sympathetic. Well, at least his new captain won't be a homeless man.

Gavin knocked on the door to the new captain's office. He was hoping he could finish the case before Fowler retired but looks like he's out of luck.

"Come in," came the gruff voice from inside.

Gavin walked in with his documents. Proofs and whatnot, but he'll need a warrant to search the suspect's house. But he always checked in with Fowler whenever he's about to request a warrant, just so he won't waste his time. And he's not going to change up his routine just because Fowler retired.

"Hmm, this looks promising," he said after checking out his hard-earned proofs. "You may proceed."

"Yes, sir."

Gavin quickly gathered back his documents. He was about to leave but the door opened and an android with the exact same face as the android in the bakery came in, carrying a food container and a bottle of water.

Clearly the android recognized him too, so not just the same face. It's actually the android from the bakery.

"Oh, Mr. Reed," it said with a slight tone of surprise. "What a coincidence."

"Oh, you know each other?" Captain Anderson asked curiously.

"Not really, but he's our first customer in the bakery," it explained to the captain.

"That so? Did you try Connor's coffee?" Anderson aimed the question at him now. "Couldn't get enough of it."

Before Gavin could lie and say no, the android excitedly told him about the encounter.

"Well, I need to get back to this, so can I...?" Gavin motioned to his documents, eager to go back to work and not look at the android anymore.

"Sure, sure, don't mind us. Connor will probably be here until I finish my lunch."

Gavin left the office with a sour mood. Of all the android he had to encounter, it had to be the famous one huh. This is what he gets for primarily listening to news instead of watching it.

As soon as he reached his desk again he whipped up his phone to do a quick search of Hank Anderson and Connor.

He was immediately flooded by endless articles from various website. Ranging from serious news to Buzzfeed swooning over Connor and its adorableness. If he's going to face an android daily, he's going to get the upper hand and learn everything about it.

Turns out Connor is a prototype model designed to hunt down deviants and work with detectives. It's capable of mentally reconstructing a crime scene with almost perfect accuracy, and pre-construct an event that is about to happen. True to it's purpose, it is also able to accurately detect an android's stress level.

The fuck that kind of android doing selling donuts?

Anyway, it seems that there's only one RK800 and it doesn't look like androids are going to replace detectives any time soon.

Gavin turned off his phone and went back to work, any thought of Connor pushed to the back of his mind.

That is, until the robot approached his desk with a smile plastered on its face.

"Detective Reed? It's me, Connor."

Gavin frowned. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"I'm here to inform you that I will be joining the force next week. Specifically, to be your partner since you don't have any."

That's fucking it.

Gavin is aware that he is making a huge scene, and only partially aware that he's embarrassing himself by yelling at the new captain in front of everyone in the station. Hank just eyed him with irritation and made it clear that the decision is final.

Fuck this. Fuck everything. He can't even sock the android without getting arrested and losing his job.

He's just going to harass Connor by ordering an overly complicated coffee everyday then.


	2. Cappuccino With A Hint Of Diabetes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin had enough bad luck to witness Connor licking evidence in the worst way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for this chapter. Also can Gavin fall in love with Connor quicker >:/ I'm tired of having to write "it" as Connor's pronoun

Gavin took delight in ordering incredibly specific coffee from Connor. The android was visibly distressed each time Gavin asked it to add a finger of Lagavulin Single Malt to his 5 shots of espresso or just pure "secret menu" shit he pulled up from Buzzfeed.

"Here you go, Detective Reed. BLT Sandwich and  Caramel Cappuccino with soy milk, 3 drops of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of cane sugar, 1 teaspoon of agave, 1 teaspoon of wild honey, and extra whipped cream sprinkled with brown sugar," Connor took a deep breath, not that it needs to breathe, probably out of frustration. "Served piping hot, with Snoopy doodled on the cup."

And Connor really did doodled a Snoopy on the cup. To be fair it's a spot on doodle. 

Gavin pulled out cash to pay for his coffee and his sandwich and went on his merry way to the station.

As always, he drank his coffee when he arrived at the station. Sandwich already finished in the car, he only had to carry around a single big cup of sugary coffee.

One would think that Gavin, A Supreme Rugged Asshole, would enjoy his coffee black. But no, he enjoyed sugary drinks as much as teen-aged Starbucks fans. He just hates the way other customers judge him when they saw him with a Golden Unicorn Frappuccino, a 2038 rendition of the famous 2017 Unicorn Frappuccino.

So he drank the coffee with delight, smiling to himself. No one's here to judge him, and the janitors won't know any better since the cup is just a plain brown cup, covered with an opaque black lid.

"Do you like the coffee, Detective Reed?"

Gavin almost choked on the warm liquid. Whipping his head, he saw Connor standing behind him.

"No, I don't."

"But you're still drinking it."

"Shut up, I don't like it."

Gavin _is_ still drinking it. And he enjoyed every drop of it. But he's not about to praise the android.

Connor just shrugged and proceeded to sit on the empty desk in front of Gavin's. It turned on the PC on desk and looked at Gavin expectantly.

"Why the fuck are you getting cozy in front of me?"

Before Connor could answer, Gavin's eye caught an object nailed to the supposedly empty desk. A brass plaque, that said:

_Detective Connor Anderson_

A quick glance on his computer stated that a week has passed since he threw a tantrum in front of everyone. So that means Connor will be working as his partner starting from today.

Gavin felt a headache coming as Connor drilled him with questions and unwanted remark on his blood pressure. He really wanted to keep ignoring it but some asshole decided to murder someone and now they're both being sent to investigate it.

Long story short, Hank made Gavin and Connor go to the crime scene in one car because that's only logical.

Fuck logic.

He's not about to drive around an android so he made Connor drive. It pisses him off how excited it is when Gavin handed it the key.

As soon as they arrive at the crime scene, a strong putrid scent hits Gavin's nose. An officer came with a box of disposable mask and he muttered a thank you as he picked one.

The mask provided some protection from the smell, but not all. Great.

No one is inclined to make small talk with the state of the corpse. Regular rotting corpse is bad enough, but this one has been dumped into a septic tank. If the septic tank hasn't been scheduled for draining, the corpse might have been left to rot for years and will never been found.

"It seems that the victim has been left in there for a week," Gavin said after seeing the state of the corpse. Poor man, they can't even wash him until they're done processing the crime scene.

"No, the septic tank is purposely filled with a large amount of bacterias. The corpse would have been rotting much quicker in there," Connor chimed in.

"Fuck, then we don't have any idea when he was killed? Fucking great."

Connor is silent for a moment. "I... might have a way, but I doubt you would like it. Captain Anderson sure doesn't."

He must admit that he's intrigued by this. Is it illegal?

"What is it? It's not something illegal, is it?"

"No. It's just disgusting, you'll see," Connor said as he kneeled near the corpse.

It puts its finger on the corpse. Okay, gross.

_And then licked it._

"That's fucking disgusting, why? What? What is going on!?" Gavin panicked. Mangled corpse, he can handle. But he will never ever be ready to witness an android licking sewage water.

"I'm sampling it to see how much the bacteria in the tank affects the rotting process."

Gavin decidedly wanted to puke. He's glad no one else saw this or Connor's ass would be hauled back by everyone in the station to CyberLife to be scrapped.

Not that he'd mind if Connor was destroyed. He'd be happy the android will get off his ass about his dangerously rising blood sugar level.

"I am sure the victim was killed 6 days ago," Connor finally said.

"Great, jot that down. I'm outta here."

There's not much to see anyway. No footprints, no fingerprints, and not a single CCTV in sight. Everything looks normal except for the fact that there's a corpse inside a buried septic tank.

Connor seems to agree and followed Gavin dutifully.

The drive back to the station was silent. Gavin deep in thought about the case. Connor was unable to ID the man since his face and teeth was badly damaged. So until they figure out another way to identify the man, they're stumped.

"Is it possible for the culprit to be an android?" Gavin asked himself, barely aware that Connor is still there.

"I'm thinking about that possibility as well. But it's easy to get rid of evidence in this circumstances, so it's either an android or a very careful human."

Gavin mulled over this information. Could it be the work of a paid hitman? But usually contract killers don't destroy any convenient means of identifying the victim.

Until they get the victim's background, they have no clues and the case is impossible to solve. Gavin groaned in frustration, it's been a long time since they had a case like this.

He's sure that something fucked up is about to happen. Gavin really hoped that he's wrong.


	3. Caffeinated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin and Connor snooped around somewhere they shouldn't be.
> 
> Someone paid the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know police rules but I'm sure they're not allowed to barge into a victim's house without permission :/

"Why are you still working here?"

Connor is blinking dumbly at Gavin from behind the counter.

"Are you asking why am I not fired from _my own bakery?_ "

"Your daddy already let you play robocop in the station. Why are you still selling fucking bread?"

"I like selling breads."

Connor proceeded to walk to the kitchen before Gavin could retaliate.

It came back out after 2 minutes with his orders neatly packed. Gavin smirked in amusement, wondering if Connor will read out his orders like usual.

"Here you go. Curry bread, and..." Connor grimaced at the steaming cup of coffee in its left hand. "Umm... 'The thiccest black coffee you got, sprinkled with 2 tablespoons of extra spicy cayenne pepper and pour in a bottle of red bull for good measure.'"

"Sweet," Gavin grinned as he scooped up his orders and handed in his money.

"I must warn you, Detective. It might not be the safest drink-"

"Shut it, plastic face."

"It's made of titanium and silicon!"

But Gavin already left and hurriedly entered his car. He was informed that the victim has been identified via fingerprints after being properly cleaned and transported to the nearest morgue for autopsy.

But all of the informations have been forwarded to his work PC via secure links and he could access it all from the comfort of his desk. Ah, the joys of being a detective.

He jogged lightly to his desk as soon as he parked his car, eager to check out the information so he can actually be productive.

Gavin was glad that he ordered a fuckton of caffeine because he will need it for this case.

"Good morning, Detective Reed. Already working on the case?"

Shit, Gavin almost forgot that Connor is his partner now.

"You should start working too. We finally identified the man," came the annoyed reply from Gavin.

Connor turned on the PC on his desk. Every bit of information gained during the investigation will be stored there.

"I don't see why they can't just send it directly to me. My software is actually safer than this computer," Connor said as it interfaced with the computer to basically copy and paste all of the files to its brain.

"You don't have to spend half an hour reading these files and you're still complaining? Fuck off."

Gavin took a sip of his coffee and immediately felt like he was kicked on the face. If he was sleepy before, he sure as fuck not now. And probably will be for another 13 hours.

"Are you okay, Detective Reed? Your heartbeat is faster than your normal 68 bpm."

Maybe another sip will make his blood rush fast enough to drown out Connor's voice.

Gavin started flipping through the victim's profile. Kent Moore, 42 years old. Died from the blunt force that utterly destroyed his face before being dumped into the septic tank.

He had no criminal record, and lead a clean life. Which is weird for a murder victim like this. Someone clearly held a grudge against this man.

"Is it just me or this man is way too clean to be murdered like that?" Gavin asked Connor, who was just sitting there with its LED whirring yellow silently.

"Hmm... True. Maybe he did something bad enough to enrage someone once, but was never discovered until now?"

"We'd have to search his house, then. Hopefully he left something that we can use."

Gavin stood up and grabbed his keys along with the abominable concoction Connor made. He was already walking when he realized that Connor wasn't following him.

"Hey, plastic prick! You coming or not?" Gavin called out.

"I'm sure this is breaking the rule, Detective. We'll need a warrant."

"The victim lives alone, shithead. Who gives a fuck? Come on, we don't have all day."

Well, it's tempting to leave the android behind. But Gavin has been on his toes since yesterday, any form of back up would be appreciated.

"If the victim hid something in his house, there's more than 80% chance the culprit will come to destroy it. We need to be careful, Detective," Connor warned.

Gavin couldn't even _think_ about being careless right now. So he just nodded with irritation.

They arrived in front of the house of the victim. It's a plain two story house with barren lawn. It looks empty, probably because he lives alone.

Still, Gavin knocked on the door to be sure. Connor proceeded to listen at the door to pick up any sound.

"There's no sound at all," it said after a few seconds. "No one is here. I think it's safe to go inside."

"Shit, it's locked," Gavin said afted trying the handle. "Can you lockpick it?"

"I... do not have the skill installed. Perhaps I can find out if CyberLife has a lockpicking module that I can download?" It suggested.

"Fuck that, I doubt the pricks at CyberLoser would allow an android to lockpick. I'll do it," he finally said as he fished a small lockpicking kit.

"If you can do it, why did you ask me?"

"Thought you'd do it faster."

Before long, the door clicked open and Gavin peeked inside. As they expected, it's empty. Furnitures dusty and the dust on the floor showed no disturbance. So no one broke in recently.

They entered the house and started searching anything that might indicate the victim's less honorable life.

Gavin snooped around in a built-in closet and he saw an keyhole on the closet wall, hidden behind a box filled with books. 

He made a quick work of it and soon enough the closet wall detached, revealing a hidden room.

"Hey Robocop! Come here!"

Connor came trotting in a few seconds later, face a bit shocked. What did it see?

"Why are you so jumpy?"

"You are standing on a large thirium stain."

"Well fuck, this may explain that."

Gavin motioned to the secret room and Connor peeked inside. The room is filled with lab equipments and with the unmistakable stacks of packaged drugs on the table, it's not hard to guess what the room was used for.

"He was a Red Ice supplier."

"But he wasn't a user, that's why he's declared clean for every drug test he took. Man, what a jackass."

Connor stepped inside and opened a metal crate that is standing on the corner of the room.

Gavin aimed his flashlight to see the content of the crate.

Piles and piles of various bottles. The bottles range from ketchup bottles to vodka bottles, but the content is the same blue liquid. The blue liquid must have been extracted from somewhere then placed inside an empty bottle.

"It's thirium 310. Blue blood," Connor whispered. "Android blood. Properly distilled, you can extract pure thirium out of it. This must be where Moore acquired the thirium needed for making red ice."

Suddenly, everything clicked in place. Moore had lured androids to his house and then drained their blood to make red ice. That would've angered someone, if they found out.

"Well, at least now we have our motive."

Connor still looked a bit confused.

"That doesn't make any sense. How did the culprit find out?"

"Well, can't androids scan thirium like you do?"

"No, only the RK800 model is equipped with the ability to see evaporated thirium. Not even blacklight can detect it," Connor explained.

"Whoever that is, must have found out from somewhere. Let's take another look around, see if you can find out how he dispose the android's body."

Connor nodded and practically fled the hidden room. Gavin stayed behind to inspect the books on the table, to see if he can find any clues about Moore's associates.

Moore's notes are filled with chemical formulas and Gavin sure as fuck isn't a chemist. He tidied it up and packed it in a plastic evidence bag before putting it safely on his backpack.

"Detective! I think I've figured out where he disposed the androids!"

Gavin took another quick glance at the room to make sure there's nothing he left behind before running towards Connor's voice.

"What is it?"

Connor was standing in front of a bathroom. Upon closer look, it's really clean. Probably the cleanest room in the whole house, like it's scrubbed clean everyday. Suspicious.

"There are a lot of thirium stain in the toilet. It's possible that Moore flushed down the androids after destroying them into small enough bits in the hidden room."

"That'll clog up the pipes sooner or later," Gavin said. "So, the plumber is our suspect now?"

"Either the plumber is an accomplice of Moore or the suspect. Finding them will be beneficial for our investigation, I suggest we visit the-"

For a split second, Gavin wondered why did Connor stopped talking. But he didn't need to ask, the blue blood spilling to the floor is enough explanation.

A sharpened crowbar was shoved into Connor from behind, with enough force to break the durable chassis. Error messages flashed behind Connor's eyes.

A person in black hoodie cursed when Connor collapsed, and quickly escaped the scene.

"Stop!"

Gavin chased the short figure that is now escaping with all of their might. With the advantage of his bigger steps, he managed to grab the person before they twist violently and punched Gavin's face.

The force was enough to knock Gavin back and the person ran away again, this time managing to get enough distance from Gavin and disappeared before Gavin could catch them again.

"Fuck!" Gavin cursed when he realized that he's never going to catch them.

He was ready to give chase anyway, but a loud whirring noise snapped him back to reality.

"Detective Reed? I need your assistance," Connor choked out a glitched plea for help. The android is practically crouching on a pool of blue blood.

"I have approximately two minutes before my system shuts me down."

It's quite morbid, talking to an android with a crowbar stuck to its back. But whatever Connor said must be important, and Gavin listened with his full attention.

"I need you to take me to a repair center. Please do not pull out the crowbar. It has struck one of my main nerve wire, pulling it out might damage another one."

"Shit, alright, alright. I'm bringing you out right now," Gavin leaned down to pick up Connor.

Gavin wasted no time in bringing the android back to his car. He kicked the front door open with enough force to leave a crack in the wood.

Just as Gavin was about to put Connor in the backseat of his car, he heard a static noise coming from the android.

"Please." 

Connor put a hand on Gavin's arm to make him listen. When Gavin looked down, he could swore there was fear in the android's usually cool and composed face.

"Please call my dad."


	4. A Glass Full of Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank came to unleash patriarchal fury upon Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya, sorry about shoving a crowbar into Connor, but Gavin needs to grow the fuck up and I don't know any other way except for breaking Connor's heart.
> 
> And I don't wanna do that:(

Everything happened in a blur, Gavin came rushing into a repair center with Connor unmoving in his arms. He didn't know what to do. It's so much different from a hospital.

He must've stood there, confused, for a good 30 seconds before three androids in uniform came rushing and demanding Gavin to put Connor on the stretcher.

They didn't talk much, but Gavin didn't miss the suspicious glance on them. Did they thought he did this?

Gavin couldn't blame them. New York wasn't so kind to androids.

Gavin sat down after the group of android carted Connor to another room without saying anything.

"Shit," he said when he realized his shirt is drenched in thirium.

He felt stupid, sitting in an empty waiting room all alone with his soiled shirt. But he can't bring himself to leave.

He kept thinking of Connor's frightened face. His bright red LED. The way he clung to his shirt as Gavin carried him.

_Him? It's just a robot, why do I have to call it 'him'?_

But with the range of emotions Connor displayed, it's hard to see him as a _thing._ Is it true then, that androids have feelings? That they experience fear and sadness like humans?

He felt like such a hypocrite.

His phone buzzed, distracting him from his thought. It was just an alarm he forgot to turn off but now that he's holding his phone, he remembered Connor's request.

"Right, I have to call his dad."

He didn't even know if Connor even has a dad. Is it one of the androids he befriended during the revolution? He heard that Carl Manfred officially adopted Markus to be his son. So that's possible now.

Gavin had joked that Captain Anderson is his 'daddy' but can it be true? Connor did take the Captain's surname.

Well there's only one way to find out.

He quickly searched 'Captain Anderson' on his contact list. The name showed up. He pressed the call button and waited anxiously for the man to pick up.

"Reed? I was about to call you. Connor wasn't picking up his phone, where is he?"

Oh god, the worry in his voice. Gavin thought that it's better to swallow his pride and explain everything truthfully. That might get him suspended, but he just can't lie.

He expected the Captain to start yelling at him, like Fowler everytime he fucked up. But it never came. Gavin didn't know if that's better or worse.

"I'll be there in 10 minutes."

And with that, Anderson hanged up.

Gavin should be afraid. He should be, but he wasn't. All he felt is relief. Because now Connor will see someone who he actually cares about when he wake up. Instead of just the asshole who made his life unnecessarily harder.

That relief soon was replaced with fear for his own safety when Anderson came into the repair center with barely contained fury. Worse, all of those fury is now directed at him after he saw Gavin sitting alone in the waiting room, looking miserable.

So when a punch landed on his cheek, Gavin wasn't really surprised.

"Well, I deserve that," he said after he landed on the floor.

"Yes, you fucking deserve that and more," Hank looked ready to punch him again.

But a female android in uniform cleared her throat. She looked displeased that there's two filthy humans fighting in the pristine waiting room. Gavin is displeased too, but he's not about to snap at her.

"If you two gentlemen are quite done. I have news about Connor," she started. "Fortunately, we managed to salvage most of his vital components. He'll survive."

"Most?" Hank asked.

"Yes, most. One of Connor's main nerve wire is badly damaged. Usually we would've ordered a new one from CyberLife, but we have just been informed that they don't stock RK800 nerve wire anymore and we've been placed 5719 on the waiting list for unique component production. That's roughly 3 months away."

"3 months? Will Connor be fine without the nerve wire?" Gavin was instantly alarmed.

"The nerve wire that was damaged connects Connor's legs to his CPU. He won't be able to walk until we get our hands on a new compatible nerve wire."

Both Gavin and Hank fell silent. They knew that the Restoration Act pushed CyberLife into making free unique components for androids injured in the revolution. While interchangeable components were sold cheap to repair centers, and slightly more expensive on CyberLife shops.

God knows how many androids were gunned down and left half-dead in the snow.

"We understand," Hank finally broke the silence. "When can I bring Connor home?"

"Half an hour, more or less. We'll need to re-calibrate him, and run some mandatory tests."

Hank nodded and the android left. Gavin wondered whether he should shut up or say something, but Hank beat him to it with an order.

"Go to my house and walk my dog around the block. Don't come back until I told you to."

"But-"

"I'm not asking, Reed."

Gavin just nodded dumbly and accepted the key Hank just handed to him.

"It's the one beside the bakery. With the shit ton of flower pots, you can't miss it."

He left quickly, not waiting around to eavesdrop on whatever Hank needed to say to Connor. It's their private moment, and Gavin had done enough damage.

The trip to the bakery was uneventful. He couldn't be bothered to drive so he just set the GPS to Anderson's Bakery and let the car drive itself. The joys of owning a hybrid car.

Gavin just stared at the road blankly until his GPS announced that he had arrived at his destination. He half expected the bakery to be closed, but he was greeted with a lively display of people standing in line at the well-lit bakery. There are a couple of employees working, humans and android. A sign was placed in front of it that said 'Open everyday, 08:00 - 21:00'.

Huh, weird. Gavin always came at 6:30, and the sign will always say 'open' and Connor will be there with his stupid smile and his stupidly delicious coffee.

But he's not here for the bakery, he's here for the Captain's dog. Likem Hank said, the house is impossible to miss. It's a townhouse with a lot of flower pots lined outside, various flowers of various colors, all well taken care of. Connor's doing, he presumed.

Unlocking the door, he didn't even had the time to take a look around before the biggest ball of fluff came barreling and knocked him off his feet.

Gavin panicked for a second, a bit afraid that the dog will chomp his face and made him dinner but all he got is slobber dripping freely onto his face.

He tried to push the dog to the side in an attempt to stand up. But he's not moving one bit.

"Aw, come on," Gavin peeked at his collar, thankfully there's a name etched there. "Sumo! Let's go on a walk!"

After hearing the word 'walk' the giant dog practically stood up and zoomed to fetch the leash. Gavin hadn't even finished wiping his face before the dog came back out again with a leash on his mouth.

"You're that excited, huh?" Gavin laughed at the dog's excitement. "All right, let's go."

After fastening the leash, Gavin let the St. Bernard trot in front of him.

He must admit, it's kind of therapeutic. The dog never tugged on the leash or run. They both just walked on a leisurely pace and occasionally stopped when Sumo got curious and decided to sniff on random stuffs.

Gavin just let Sumo walk wherever he wanted to, and of course the dog led them to a mostly deserted dog park.

The sun was setting, washing the park with a peaceful orange light, but also signaling that they can't stay there too long. But Gavin entered the park anyway, closing the gate behind him and unfastened Sumo's leash.

The dog bounded off to play in the fountain in the center of the park. Sumo splashed and rolled around in the clear water, sometimes tripping on the wet tile and falling down chin first.

Before long, the dog tired himself out and plopped down on the ground. Gavin would bring him home, but Hank hadn't told him he's allowed to go back yet.

So he sat down near Sumo. He'd never thought that he'll ever watch a sun set this way, with a St. Bernard dozing off beside him.

He didn't realize that he's been staring at the sky for almost half an hour until his phone buzzed.

It's Captain Anderson.

_You can come and bring Sumo back now._

"Alright, let's go home, big guy," Gavin said as he stood up, waking Sumo up in the process. "I'm sure someone missed you already."

Sumo barked in reply.

Gavin tried to go back quicker but Sumo insisted on walking briskly. As they walked, Gavin grew impatient and just grabbed the 170 lbs dog and carry him while he ran back to Hank's house.

Sumo let out a bark in protest but just put his paw on Gavin's shoulder, clearly enjoying not having to walk.

Gavin was out of breath when he arrived at Hank's doorstep. He dropped the dog and opened the door for him.

"Sumo!"

Gavin knew what was going to happen when the android said that Connor can't walk.

But nothing in the world would've prepared him for the sight of Connor sitting on a wheelchair. Still laughing genuinely. With a lapful of dog.

Connor noticed Gavin standing awkwardly on the door. He just smiled brightly at him before giving Sumo the attention he demanded.

Gavin's heart sinked. Of course he would still be happy, he wouldn't blame him, he wouldn't be bitter about not being able to walk and work for 3 months. Somehow it hurts more than Hank's punch.

Gavin ran out before Connor could say anything to him. He closed the door and quickly entered his car.

Once he set the GPS to his house, he banged his head on his dashboard.

_I have to make this right_


	5. Macchiato And A Card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin is the worst at apologies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update :( There's some stuffs happening in my college and I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to.

_Are you coming to the bakery today?_

Gavin almost choked on his toothbrush when he saw what Connor just texted him. He almost got wrecked yesterday and now he's asking him if he's going to the bakery?

He quickly typed back.

_Shouldn't you be resting?_

_There is no need for me to rest after a thorough reparation yesterday. I must admit, it's terribly boring just sitting around._

Before Gavin could type a reply, another message came in.

_Please? Before Hank wakes up? He's not letting me do anything. I think it's payback for when he caught a cold and I, as he put it, was being a mother hen._

Gavin chuckled at that. He could imagine Connor pushing the stubborn Captain to bed against his will. Or wrapping him in flannels to warm him up. He probably made him a porridge too.

Well he had to come over then, if only just for undermining the Captain's effort at revenge.

_All right, I'll come earlier than usual._

Connor replied with a single smiley face. Gavin didn't know why, but his heart just skipped a beat.

\---

True to his words, Gavin arrived 15 minutes earlier at the bakery. He's a little disheveled, but no one can tell the difference between his Deliberate Bad Boy Disheveled style and actually skipping on grooming himself before jumping in the car.

The door bell chimed as he opened it like always. Some things never change, the thought gave Gavin a little reassurance. 

There's still a fucked up murderer out there. Probably plotting on killing another person, or maybe just trying their hardest to get on Gavin's last nerve. But this little bakery and its little bell will always be here.

"Detective Reed! Hurry, we don't have much time before Hank woke up," Connor said from behind the cashier.

"Right, uhh... I'll have the almond glazed donut and a big cup of latte macchiato with sweetened almond milk, extra two shots of espresso, one pump of vanilla, two pumps of caramel sauce, tone down on the foam, sprinkle it with some coco powder and chocolate shavings," Gavin paused for a second, thinking about the addition. "And pour in two shots of Amaretto."

"Do you always go to work in slightly intoxicated state or are you just trying to make me stressed?"

"...Both?"

Connor sighed but still wheeled himself to the kitchen. Gavin wondered why did he even stock alcohol in a bakery.

As always, it didn't take Connor long to re-emerge from the kitchen. This time his neatly packed orders are placed on his lap while he wheeled back to the cashier.

"Here you go, one almond glaze donut and one bic cup of latte macchiato with sweetened almond, extra two shots of espresso, two shots of Amaretto, one pump of vanilla, two pumps of caramel sauce, less foam, and sprinkled with coco powder and chocolate shavings on top." Connor handed him his orders and interfaced with the cashier to bring out his total.

Connor noticed that Gavin lingered and hesitated after he paid his breakfast. Like he wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"How can you just sit there, smile at me and act like yesterday didn't happen?"

Connor's smile faltered. Gavin instantly felt like more of an asshole when Connor just tilted his head down in reply. But he can't stop now, couldn't just keep it in.

"I'm the one that dragged you there without backup. The reason that you got a crowbar shoved into your body," Gavin ranted breathlessly. "You can't walk right now because of me, damn it!"

"Last I remember, you weren't the one holding the crowbar, Gavin," Connor snapped back. "I can make my own choices, and I made my choice when you asked me to go with you. Or did you think I'm incapable of free will?"

A tense silence fell upon both of them. Both daring the other to continue, but neither did.

Eventually, Gavin gave up and spoke first.

"You're right, you can make your own choices. All I want to say is... I'm sorry, for everything. For being an asshole and for putting you in danger like that," Gavin paused before continuing. "I swear, I'll make it up to you. I'll make everything right again."

Connor nodded, smile returning to his face.

"Thank you," he said, almost whispering. "Now go, before Hank wakes up. I need to go back to the house and pretend like I'm bored."

Gavin smirked back before he jogged back to his car. He felt like a weight on his chest flew away. Not all of it though, the murderer is still on the loose after all.

He rummaged through the packaging from the bakery, trying to find the donut. But his fingers brushed against something that isn't usually there. He fished it out instead, curious as to what it is.

It's a card, one of those that Connor placed near the cashier. Simple design that goes with the packaging's colors.

_Good luck on the case!_

The simple note was accompanied with a doodle of Snoopy cheering him on.

And if Gavin secretly slid the card into his wallet, no one will be any the wiser.

He stepped on the gas when he was done grinning stupidly to himself. His hand turning on the radio absent-mindedly.

The radio, unsurprisingly, was talking about the corpse in the septic tank. Ever since the press got their hands on the details, it's been on everyone's lips. Not that Gavin can blame them, I guess one would say that this falls into the 'exciting' kind of murder.

Not really interested in hearing his own case on the radio, he just switched the radio to his own playlist he's uploaded into his car radio.

When he arrived at the station, he sat just for a while longer, waiting for the current song to finish before getting out of the car. A habit he's developed ever since he can drive.

A knock on his car window snapped him from jamming to his music. It's Tina, smirking mischievously at him. He rolled down the window.

"What is it, Chen?" he asked, in mock annoyance.

"You're still listening to Harry Styles? Man, you're so old," she scowled at his choice of music.

"Watch it, Tina. I'm still your superior."

"Ha! Only you would pull rank for Harry Styles. Anyway, you might wanna come out now. We have another body, possibly connected to the sewage case."

Gavin didn't waste any time in rolling up his window and turning off the engine. He stepped out, coffee in hand and bag slinged on one shoulder. They walked side by side to the station.

"Where'd you get that coffee? It smells so good," she asked, pointing at Gavin's coffee.

"From Anderson's Bakery. As in, Hank Anderson."

"You're joking."

"I fucking wish. He owned it with Connor. The only reason I keep coming back is because their coffee is so fucking good."

Tina laughed, "Well, I'll give it a shot tomorrow. I have to order a cake for my sister's birthday anyway."

Gavin shrugged nonchalantly. Not really caring if Tina goes there or not. He goes to his desk, immediately accessing the reports on the murder Tina mentioned.

"Shit, how the fuck..."

Unlike the first victim, this one was placed right in the middle of a public place with surveillance cameras and possible eyewitness.

Even worse, it's the dog park that he visited yesterday with Sumo.

It could be a coincidence, but he has learned that nothing is really a coincidence in this line of work. Chills ran down his spine. The murderer could've been stalking him. Whoever they are knows who he is, and this is possibly a warning from them.

And possibly Connor too.

Cursing under his breath, he swore to solve this before that fucker got to him.

He grabbed his keys a little more aggressively than necessary, and made his way to the dog park.

\---

"God, what a mess," Tina sighed.

It was a mess. The victim was gutted and a dead sapling was placed in it. Still fresh too.

Not that Gavin needs to see the victim to know that he's killed recently. He was here yesterday, even stayed quite late too, and no corpse was in sight.

And by the amount of blood present, the victim must have been killed here. Unless the murderer decided to bottle up every drop of blood and then manually spilled it here before dumping the body.

Which is unlikely, considering there is only a small window of time where they can kill someone in a park like this without getting noticed.

When he approached the park security for CCTV footages, he stated that it was destroyed beyond fixing.

"Oh, oh my."

A familiar voice was heard from beyond the police line. Gavin looked up to see Connor wheeling himself on the sidewalk in front of the park, holding Sumo's leash.

"Connor! What are you doing here?" Gavin exclaimed as he jogged to the police line.

"I was about to take Sumo to the dog park, but it seems that this one is... unavailable," he said as he petted the whining dog. Sumo seemed disappointed.

"It's all right, Sumo. We'll go to the next park," Connor said when Sumo let out a massive whine. "Well, I've taken enough of your time, Detective Reed. I'll be on my way."

"Connor, wait!" Gavin practically lunged out, passing the holo tape. "I have something to tell you. Can we find somewhere more private?"

Connor looked surprised but he nodded. They strolled down the sidewalk until they found an android parking spot that the government haven't gotten around to remove. It's covered in a black matte tarp instead, and if they squeeze behind it, it's pretty private.

"Listen. I think we're being watched," Gavin whispered.

"By who? The murderer?"

"Yes. I took Sumo to that park yesterday, it can't be a coincidence."

"Could the person with the crowbar be the murderer? I mean, they were our only suspect right now. Aside from the plumber," Connor speculated while scanning the area around them, in case they were being watched right now.

Gavin let out an exasperated sigh. He really doesn't know. It could be anyone, right now they only have motive and two suspects that they haven't met anyway. Not even a strand of hair was found in the crime scene.

"I just want you to be careful, okay? Sumo isn't much of a guard dog," Sumo let out a protesting yelp but Gavin ignored him. "And I know that you're an amazing shot, so here."

A hand gun was placed in Connor's lap. It's definitely not a police issued gun, as it lacks the hidden barcode visible to the eyes of androids.

"Thank you, but I have my own gun, Gavin. I won't need another one," he said softly.

"I know that, but considering how careful the murderer is, I won't be surprised if they managed to steal your gun first. Just think of it as a backup plan, okay?"

Connor nodded. He slipped the gun discreetly to the pocket of his coat.

Gavin watched as Connor wheeled away. A sense of dread washed over him.

He shook it away, there's no chance in hell he's going to let that bastard get to Connor.


	6. The Second Card and A Mystery Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin finally gets the lead he's so desperate of. Not in this way, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 more chapters and we're done!
> 
> I went to an expo today and got a heck lot of dbh merch <3\. My wallet is crying but I'm so happy. I bought a short fancomic of dbh daycare au and it's the most adorable thing ever.

Gavin did say that they have two suspects.

Well that number had just gone down to a whopping one since they found out the identity of the victim in the dog park.

Justin Braddock. Moore's trusty plumber. Possibly had been cleaning Moore's dirty works for years, as a huge stash of money was found beneath his bed. More than a plumber would make.

It's perfect, no one would question a plumber carrying a a box full of plastic scraps. Even if said scraps are covered in muck and other questionable liquids.

So an accomplice. Goddamn the murderer really had it in for Moore's whole operation.

But Gavin had spent years tracking down Red Ice operations. He's not about to lose to a bloodthirsty vigilante. He needs to find Moore's accomplices before the murderer could get to them. Big chance he's going to cross path with the murderer and he can catch them too.

Two birds with one stone or whatever, right?

This whole thing had put a damper in Gavin's mood. He's snappier than usual and as much as he didn't want to admit it, this whole thing would've been easier with Connor in front of him. Distracting him with questions about his last medical check-up or just feeding him donut samples he smuggled in from his bakery.

"Whoa, that's a massive sigh, Reed."

Hank was standing in front of him. He didn't look pleased, but isn't that just his default expression? Anyway, Gavin wasn't in the mood for the Captain breathing down his neck.

"What is it, Captain?" he asked without his usual snappy tone.

"Someone been sucking your blood lately? Not that I give a damn," he said as he dumped a familiar looking package on his desk. "Here, Connor was having a fit because you didn't come to the bakery this morning. I knew that little shit was sneaking around yesterday."

Gavin rummaged into the package as soon as Hank left. Inside he found a big piece of croissant, a mysterious drink and another card. He picked up the card a little more excitedly that he cared to admit. The message is longer than last time.

_I made a sweet caffeinated drink, just like you always ordered. But please forgive me for using healthier subsitutes. Also, no alcohol this time! >:( _

The angry emoji was so endearing he couldn't help but laugh a little to himself. He discreetly slid the card into his wallet again, all while grinning stupidly.

He took a swig of the drink. Surprisingly, it's cold. Not surprisingly, it's really sweet and made him happy. Like a toddler sipping on a juice box.

Usually he takes his morning coffee hot. But since it's nearly lunch, he'll forgive Connor for basically making him a Frappuccino.

He went back to work in a better mood.

Although, he would admit that working with so little clue like this gets frustrating very quick. With nothing to do except review the reports and speculate, Gavin felt like he's hitting a wall repeatedly.

When it was time for break. He slunk to the roof, utterly exhausted. It's been a long time since he smoked, but he's so stressed out that he couldn't resist the call of nicotine.

As he smoked, he thought of the case over and over again.

Moore was given a slow death. Hit repeatedly on the face until his skull cracked and the brain injury killed him.

Braddock, on the other hand, was stabbed once right on the heart and once on the throat to shut him up. All the other butchery happened after he died.

The vast difference in cruelty suggested that the murderer didn't have as much grudge against Braddock compared to Moore. Which fits, since Braddock was only the cleaner, not the murderer of all of those androids.

Problem is, it also fits with the place of murder. Moore was murdered in somewhere discreet. No one would hear him scream, and the murderer had all the time in the world to kill him there.

While Braddock was killed somewhere public, they didn't have the time to dally. A swift consecutive stabs to the heart and throat. Butchering the body afterwards would have been so much easier when the victim wasn't struggling.

Or maybe it's not a problem. Maybe the two angles overlapped. And the murderer was simply that efficient.

The problem is, it would have been easy to lure Braddock to another deserted place. And kill him there. Where there is no surveillance cameras to worry about.

Instead, Braddock was lured into a dog park.

Braddock didn't even have a dog. He checked.

There was a fountain though, he could've been lured there by calling for his services. But he didn't receive any call recently. And Gavin had asked the place where Braddock worked if anyone had requested to fix the fountain in the dog park and they said no. 

And what was the deal with the dead sapling? Fuck, this is a whole deal of confusing murder pretentiousness. He didn't become a detective to figure out the symbolism behind shanking someone in a dog park.

His phone buzzed loudly in his pants. Gavin muttered some curses as he checked his phone, mainly because his thought was interrupted.

He was also a bit startled but he'll never admit it.

It's Connor.

_Detective Reed, I heard that there was a dead sapling placed inside the victim. Is that true?_

_Where did you hear it? Also, you're off-duty, you shouldn't be asking about the case._

_Hank told me._

Of fucking course. Connor probably threw some puppy eyes at the old man and he gave him every detail of the case. He looked down to his phone again,

_He didn't tell me what kind of sapling it is, though. Was it a red maple sapling?_

Gavin quickly checked on the report. It was, indeed a dead red maple sapling.

_How did you know that?_

_I believe the murderer obtained the sapling from my backyard. I planted it when I moved here, and now it's gone._

_I'll be there right now._

Gavin threw his cigarette butt to the ground and stomped on it.

He ran down the stairs and quickly snatched his keys from his desk. And almost crashed with Hank when he turned around a little bit too quickly.

"Jesus, Reed! Where the fuck are you going?"

"No time, I need to go to your house, right now."

He vaguely heard Hank calling for him. But he kept running. No time to lose.

If the one who stole the tree is the murderer, then there's no doubt that they'll come back.

He got to Hank's house as quickly as he could. He auto-parked his car and jumped out as it was straightening itself on the designated spot for parking. He was about to knock on the door only to find out that it's open.

There were splinters everywhere, the door lock laying uselessly on the floor. Forced entry. Gavin's heart sinked.

He pulled out his gun and walked in slowly. His phone buzzed again. He quickly fished it out and put it on silence.

Looking at the notification, Connor messaged him again.

_Detective Reed? I think it's better if you didn't come right now._

Shit, the tree thief must have found Connor.

He heard muffled conversation coming from deeper into the house. He carefully approached the source of the voice.

"You're not fucking dead."

"I think you'll find that my kind are more difficult to get rid of."

Gavin listened on the conversation. The door is slightly opened and he peeked on them.

It's the bastard that stabbed Connor with the crowbar. He'd recognize that tattered black hoodie anywhere.

But this time the hood was pulled down, revealing a bald girl. Her face contorting to an enraged expression. Her trembling hands clutching Connor's gun. Gavin didn't want to think what would happen if she accidentally pulled the trigger.

"You ruined everything! If you just die, then I can die in peace. Life for a life, it won't be wrong for me to take my own life if I killed you."

"Then why did you kill the plumber? He didn't kill anyone."

"He did! He killed Adrian! My sweet Adrian, tortured and killed like a cattle. It's unfair!"

Gavin kicked the door open and aimed his gun at the girl.

"All right, drop your weapon."

She froze at first, undoubtedly knew that there was a gun aimed at her head. But after a few seconds she raised her hands slowly and bent down to drop the gun to the floor.

"Kick the gun away," he instructed. "And put your hands behind your head."

Gavin approached her as soon as she complied. He put his gun back on his holster and pulled out his handcuffs.

"Watch out!"

Connor's warning was too late. Before he realized it, the girl had turned around and stole his gun. When Gavin tried to grab it back, she punched his hand away and kicked Gavin on the neck.

Using the gun Gavin gave him yesterday, Connor wasted no time in shooting the girl. He couldn't get a clear shot, with her moving around quickly, and ended up grazing her calf instead.

Gavin was struggling to breathe. He's lucky she didn't kick him harder or he might pass out right then and there.

The girl tried to make a run for it but Gavin threw himself at her. He didn't think much, only that he needs to stop this woman no matter what.

She pushed him back with all of her might and ran out. He landed with a loud thud and a sharp pain on his head.

Gavin tried to push himself back up but somehow his body wouldn't listen. He stared helplessly at her running away from him the second time and couldn't help but feel like a failure.

He felt something wet running down his neck and his vision slowly darkens.

"No! Detective Reed!"

The last thing he remembered before he lost his consciousness was warm hands cradling him and a soft voice reassuring him that everything will be all right.


	7. A Box of Candy and A Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin woke up in a hospital and Connor made him feel feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaa I can't wait to get to the ending and write a sweet little epilogue.

When Gavin blinked awake, there were two things he noticed.

First, his head was hurting like hell. Like someone drilled it and then just left the drill there lodged inside his head. Maybe twisted it around a little.

Two, it's so fucking bright. Like, what the fuck.

"Detective Reed, you're awake."

Gavin shielded his eyes from the evil white light and turned his head to the source of the voice. It was Connor. Of course it was Connor, who else was nice enough to visit him in the hospital?

His brother? He got bored at visiting him the third time he was injured in the job.

"Turn off the damned light," he said with a hoarse voice. "'S too bright."

He vaguely heard wheels turning and the click of a lightswitch. The room darkens significantly but it's better than having his eyes pierced by god-awful white LED lights.

"Is it better?"

Gavin made a confirming grunt.

Now that he's a bit more comfortable, he started remembering what happened before he passed out. His mind replaying the fight over and over again.

"Wait, the girl... she ran away with my gun," Gavin tried to get up. "I have to catch her, she could disappear again at any moment. She could kill someone again."

Connor put a hand on his chest, coaxing him to lie down again. "Relax, Hank already caught her."

"What?"

"He followed you, when you rushed to our house. He knew something was wrong when he saw the state of the front door."

Gavin visibly relaxed and let himself lie down again.

"It wasn't easy, he took a few punches but decided to play dirty and taze her when she fell down after he kicked her wounded leg."

He laughed a little at the imagery. Hank, a big burly man, got smacked around by a tiny girl and then basically had to cheat to catch her. He stopped laughing when he remembered that he got royally fucked up by her too.

"We can question her later, or even let someone else handle the questioning, as we're both injured. But right now, there's nothing to worry. Rest, Detective Reed. You need it," Connor said softly, hand still resting on Gavin's chest.

"You know you can call me Gavin, right?"

Gavin swore if androids could blush, Connor would be blushing right now. Instead, he turned his head away abashedly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"All right, Ga-"

Connor stopped talking when he realized that Gavin had dozed off.

He gently covered the sleeping man with the hospital blanket. He wheeled himself out of the room, but stopped before he closed the door.

"Good night, Gavin," he whispered.

The door clicked shut.

\---

The doctor ran a few more test before his discharge, to make sure he didn't have any concussion, blood clot, chipped skull and whatnot.

Gavin was just pissed that they had to shave the hair around his wound to stitch it. Now he had an embarrassing bald spot. He's always up for cool scars but this one is just ridiculous.

Connor stayed for the whole process, watching the doctor and nurses with curious eyes. Gavin guessed that a human hospital would be fascinating for him.

"All right, Mr. Reed. Take it easy for a day, get plenty of sleep and eat well. You should be fine," the doctor finally said as he typed away on his tablet. "Please keep the stitches dry for a day or two, then you can start washing your hair again with mild shampoo. If you're not sure what shampoo to choose, baby shampoo will do the job."

Gavin groaned, not looking forward to having his hair smell like baby powder and flowers. And Connor had the gall to giggle at his misery.

"Thank you for taking care of him, Doctor," Connor said with a warm smile. "I will make sure that the wound is tended properly."

"You better, if he comes back with an infected wound I'm gonna have to put my drinking tabs on him," he said with a playful tone.

"Haha, fuck off, doc. Don't you have a brain dead patient to take care of?" Gavin said flatly.

Connor watched the doctor flipped Gavin off and left with a smirk on his face.

"You seem to be friendly with the doctor," Connor said after he's out of hearing range.

"I seem to have the badluck of always getting injured whenever he's in shift," Gavin explained while he put his jacket back on. "Other than that, we don't really talk. I don't even know his name."

"Oh."

Gavin looked at Connor and is that... relief on his face?

"Anyway, let's get you home before dark," he said before Gavin could question it. "I took the liberty of bringing your car here, I figured you would've preferred to go home in your own car."

"Sweet. Thanks, Con," Gavin replied with a grin.

Connor lead them to where he parked Gavin's car. A pretty decent spot, under a lush tree so he wouldn't have to worry about the leather seat getting hot.

Gavin allowed Connor to sit behind the steering wheel as he helped him to get on the car. His wheelchair thrown somewhat haphazardly on the backseat. 

They might not have to steer the car but in emergency, Gavin trusted him to make the best judgement. Him and his humming headache would not help anyone.

"It only occurs to me now that I don't know your address," Connor said as he hovered his hand hesitantly on the GPS screen. "Would you mind telling me your address?"

"Here let me-"

Connor snatched his hand away from the screen. The act was so unexpected that Gavin could only stare at his freckled hand incredulously. Connor lowered their hand and looked a bit embarassed.

"I want to... try using the GPS myself."

Gavin almost laughed at that. But his serious expression stopped him. And it reminded him that Connor, while equipped with vast knowledge, never really experienced anything beyond what CyberLife and DPD threw his way.

The first time he served him coffee, he was strangely determined too. Like he wasn't going to let him go without ordering something. His hatred for androids blinded him to the obvious fact that Connor was really excited for his first customer.

"All right," Gavin said. "525 9th Ave."

Connor proceeded to excitedly type in his address on the GPS. It only took a few seconds for the GPS to confirm the address and his car started to move by itself.

Then Gavin realized that Connor was still holding his hand.

He also realized that he has no problem with Connor holding his hand. And he found himself not wanting to let go either.

If Connor noticed that Gavin held his hand a little bit tighter, he didn't say anything. But the small smile gracing his lips were present, and Gavin was too busy trying to hide his blush to notice it.

Their hands only parted after they arrive at their destination.

The parking lot was not too far but they still had to walk a bit to reach Gavin's house. Connor seemed comfortable just enjoying the sight of trees that adorned the sidewalk while he steered his wheelchair effortlessly.

They arrived at Gavin's quaint apartment building after walking for a minute or so.

"Hey," Gavin said as he unlocked the front door. "I was wondering, can you eat? I know that there's stomach upgrade on the market now."

The question was a bit abrupt but Connor answered it regardless.

"Yes, it's one of the first upgrade I purchased after the revolution," he said, face beaming with pride. "I enjoy using it very much."

"Can you stay for a while, then? My brother just came back from Japan, and he sent me a whole box full of sweets," Gavin said, pointing at said box sitting on his coffee table. "Thought I might share."

Connor gave him an impossibly bright smile and nodded enthusiastically.

"Great! I think I saw some weird toilet candy that were popular 20 years ago," Gavin said as he rummaged through the box, trying to find that box of candy.

When Hank arrived to pick Connor up, he left with a tote bag full of weird candy and a big smile on his face.

Gavin watched as Hank tried to snatch one and got his hand slapped away by Connor. The captain looked quite betrayed but begrudgingly accepted the fact that Connor won't share.

As soon as Connor got in the ancient car, he rolled down the windows. He waved his hand excitedly at him and shouted.

"Bye, Gavin!"

If Gavin was a weaker man he would've keeled over and died from a heart attack from the sheer adorableness right there and then. Instead he held onto the door-sill for dear life and waved back weakly.

He tried to deny it, he tried so hard. But now he can't even deny that he likes Connor more than just friends.


	8. Little Fairies in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all comes to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is technically the end, but I've written a short epilogue! It will be up tomorrow❤

Gavin showed up the next morning to the station, along with Connor.

Technically, Connor was still on leave but they both agreed that he can handle questioning just fine without the use of his legs.

It would be a quick interrogation. After all, the murderer basically confessed to Connor already. They just need to do it formally so the confession would hold on the court.

Connor let Gavin push his wheelchair to the room, where the girl was sitting with her head down.

"Alright," Gavin said after pulling down the brakes on Connor's wheelchair. "Let's make this quick, shall we?"

The girl glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"Can you tell us what you told me yesterday?" Connor asked with a neutral tone.

She didn't respond and just kept staring at the table. Gavin flipped at the case file that Connor just updated earlier.

Sophia Wilson. Navy veteran, apparently disappeared just after her voluntary retirement a few months ago. No contact with former colleague, no credit card usage, nothing.

Gavin guessed it might have something to do with 'Adrian'.

"Look, Wilson," Gavin said with a clearly impatient tone. "I couldn't care less if you don't want to confess to the murder. You trespassed, stole a gun, resisted arrest two times and worst of all, assaulted a cop."

Gavin closed the files with a bit more force than necessary.

"In short, you're still going to jail," Gavin finished.

The room went silent. The clock on the wall seemed to tick impossibly loud while the two detectives stare at Sophia's cold expression.

"If you confess, it will provide some closure for you-"

"Closure?"

Connor stopped talking when Sophia cut him off.

"That's ridiculous," she scoffed. "I've got mine when I killed those two bastards."

It's basically a confession, they could get out right then and consider the case closed. But Connor let her keep going.

"I was in Russia when I heard of what happened to my family," she started, still looking at neither of them. "Economy was bad, I knew that sooner or later my parents would be out of job. And my brother doesn't even have a job."

Based on what little evidence Gavin had, he could guess where this is going. He had seen it countless times, families broken because of Red Ice.

"They started using Red Ice with whatever money they can get their hands on. Started selling everything in their house for another hit, even family heirlooms," her eyes got glassy. "Moore... offered them free Red Ice for Adrian."

Her hands were cuffed to the table so she leaned forward to pull out her necklace that was tucked into her clothes.

"Adrian gave me this, before I went to Russia. He made it from electronic scraps around the house," she said sadly. "It's supposed to glow red if something happened to him. If he made it out safely, he'll turn on the blue light before turning it off. If he died... it's just going to turn off."

"And it glowed red, right?" Connor asked her.

"Yes, and it doesn't stop. I asked to return and they wouldn't let me so I resigned," she continued. "The pendant turned off just after I arrived at New York. I rushed back home and was greeted by Red Ice fumes and no Adrian in sight, so I ran."

At this point there was no mistaking what happened to Adrian.

"I found Moore and Braddock in the middle of butchering Adrian. It was horrible, the sound of their tools scraping against his body haunted me every night."

"So you killed them."

Sophia fell quiet at that. She only nodded, tears pouring freely to her cheeks and dripped down her face.

"Why would you kill Braddock on the dog park?" Connor asked.

"To scare you off long enough so I'll have time to end it all," she said as she lifted her head to face Gavin. "I thought I killed your partner."

"I think that's enough," Connor whispered. "Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Wilson."

Gavin stood up and let Connor get out first. He looked back at Sophia who was quietly crying on her chair, looking fragile.

He turned away and let the door close itself.

"We're done, do your thing," Gavin said to the officer waiting outside.

They both watched as the officer brought Sophia away from the room. She'll be judged, and brought to justice.

Silently, they both knew that would be better for her. Moore and Braddock would've walked free, or given a light punishment.

As soon as she's out of sight, Gavin breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally it's over. He'll take rotten drug dealers everytime over this.

"What do we do now?" Connor asked.

"For now, we have a shit ton of paperworks to do," he replied.

The whole case left a bad taste in Gavin's mouth.

Sophia was a stellar soldier, well on her way to achieve a badge or two. And she threw it away just like that. Resigned and committed murder, forever staining her record. She'll probably be jobless when she got out of prison.

Gavin wondered if that made her care more, or less. He knew that if he went down that path, Connor would be disappointed. And that's the last thing he wanted.

As soon as they're back to their desk, they started working in relative silence.

Hank came by to scold Gavin for bringing Connor to work but Connor just frowned at his dad. After an intense scowling match between Hank and Connor, the captain conceded and left them while muttering under his breath.

By the time they're done, it was already dark outside. The station was mostly deserted, with only a few roombas zooming around without a care in the world. Hank already left a few hours ago, at Connor's urging. That left him to bring Connor back home.

"Can you take me to the bakery first when we arrive?" Connor asked.

Gavin didn't know why Connor wanted to go to the bakery, but he nodded anyway.

He wasn't a stranger to staying late at work and driving back home late at night, but this is the first time he had company. It's strange watching Connor stare at the lit skyscrapers and passing vehicles. Maybe this is the first time he could truly enjoy the sight of a sleepless city in the night.

They arrive soon in front of the bakery. It was already closed, all the lights were turned off and the quaint sign was brought inside. Connor opened the lock to the front door by interfacing with it.

"Have you been here at night, Gavin?" he asked as he wheeled himself inside.

"I saw it once from the outside, but it was crowded and I didn't go in," Gavin answered. "Why?"

"You'll see."

Gavin wondered what it could be until Connor pressed a few switches on the wall. He thought the hanging lights were going to turn on.

Instead the curtains on the windows were lowered and the glass on the front door went opaque, leaving them in complete darkness.

Then he found himself staring at the stars.

No, not stars, little lights embedded into the ceiling. Each one glinting mischievously like fairies. He had never seen something like this before.

He also noticed that the floor were washed in blue light. Bright enough to be noticed but not enough to overpower the lights on the ceiling. And it casted some dark shadows, masking some furnitures and adding an air of mystery.

Gavin felt like he was standing on a lake. With fairies dancing around in the sky, blending in with the starry sky. It was beautiful.

"Do you like it?" Connor asked.

It took a few moments before Gavin gave his answer.

"Yes," he whispered.

Gavin stood there, completely stunned, for a while.

Then he remembered that there was a music box placed on the counter, he touched it once when he was ordering breakfast. He looked around and found it sitting innocently beside a decorative biscuit jar. He sure hoped that the music box wasn't decorative too.

He winded it and a soft tuned music started playing. He let out a small sigh of relief.

"Hey, Connor," he said. "Let's dance."

His eyes widened. Then he casted his eyes down and motioned vaguely at his wheelchair.

"You know I can't."

Gavin just walked towards him, put his arms under Connor's knees and back, then carried him out of the wheelchair. Connor let out a short yelp and wrapped his arms tightly around Gavin's neck.

"That won't be a problem," he choked out with a smirk. "Just keep your arms around my neck. Lightly."

Connor loosened his grip and looked at Gavin with uncertain eyes. Then Gavin started moving, swaying back and forth with the beat of the music.

"Is this how babies feel when they were rocked to sleep?"

"Shut up, you're ruining it."

Connor let out a short laugh at that. He smiled lightly, and let his head rest on the crook of Gavin's neck.

The song goes on and they danced. Connor humming along with the song and Gavin held him tight. The noises on the streets seemed like far away as they slowly drowned in the song and the dance.

Connor pulled his head to look at Gavin. He returned the gesture and saw Connor's conflicted face.

"What's wro-"

He was silenced when Connor suddenly pressed his lips to him. Gavin almost dropped him in surprise, and Connor pulled back.

"I'm... sorry, I should've asked first," he said with a dejected tone.

"Don't be," Gavin replied. "I like it."

Before Connor could retaliate, Gavin leaned down to kiss him again. This time both of them didn't let go. Only separating when Gavin needed to breathe.

"What does this mean?" Connor asked.

Gavin found himself asking that question too. He didn't know. The feelings were so foreign to him that he couldn't do anything but hold Connor tightly.

Connor had only just begun exploring his new-found freedom and free will. He didn't fully understand every feelings he got, much less love.

Gavin had always pushed down those feelings in favor of his career. And he had only casted away his hatred for androids a few days ago. He's not always in touch with his feelings except anger. He might understand it less than Connor.

But almost losing him made him realize that he didn't want a life without Connor in it. He wanted Connor here in his arms forever.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "But I want this, whatever this is."

Connor just rested his head on Gavin's shoulder. He toyed with a button on his jacket as Gavin kissed his head gently.

"Yes," Connor whispered. "I want this too."


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin gave Connor a very surprising gift.
> 
> Surprising in more than one way.

It's safe to say that Connor was surprised when Gavin appeared on his front door during a stormy afternoon with a big package on his hands.

"Surprise," he said lamely, voice partially drowned out by the sound of rain.

Connor blinked dumbly at him. Not sure what to do. Gavin was soaking wet and the package seemed to be spared of that fate since it's wrapped in water-proof wrapping paper.

A thunder clapped and the storm seemed to get even more relentless.

"You gonna let me in or not? It's getting pretty chilly."

Connor moved back his wheelchair from the door to let Gavin in.

"Please wait, I'll get Sumo to get you a towel," Connor whistled a sharp tone. "Sumo! Fetch a towel!"

The lazy dog barked and dragged himself to the nearest bathroom.

Gavin handed Connor the package he was lugging around.

"Open it."

"What is this, Gavin?"

"Just open it, you'll know. And don't use your x-ray vision or whatever."

Connor eyed the package skeptically, but then proceeded to start unwrapping it methodically.

Sumo trotted back to the front door with a towel on his back. The St. Bernard probably just headbutted the towel rack until the towel fell onto his back and called it a day.

"Thank you, Sumo," Gavin leaned down to give the oversized dog a belly rub. "You're such a good boy."

Connor was greeted with a black matte box when he unwrapped it. There were no markings anywhere to indicate what it might be. Curious.

He opened the box.

Multiple information screen popped up on his vision as he scanned the content.

"This is..." Connor started. "This is component #8910s."

"A what now?"

"My nerve wire. Specifically, the one that is broken right now."

Connor picked it up gingerly and admired it. It's curiously lacking in any form of barcode or batch number that usually came with a purchased component from CyberLife.

"Where did you get this? The order that was placed by the repair center is still in number 4712," he asked as he inspected the nerve wire further. "And this one don't have a production date. That's against CyberLife component production protocol."

"Oh, my brother used to work in CyberLife," he explained. "I just asked if he can get me an RK800 nerve wire."

"And he just got it?"

"Yeah? Is that not normal?"

For a detective, Gavin sure wasn't the most observant person when it came to androids. He's getting better at keeping up with android news but he's still avoiding anything involving CyberLife like it's the plague.

"It's... not normal at all," Connor said with a hint of suspicion. "CyberLife released a statement that there were no VIP line for unique component production. This is the fastest they can go without sacrificing quality."

He put the nerve wire back down in the box when he's done inspecting it.

"And this is a high quality component. I could even say that this is made with better quality than my original component," he explained to Gavin who was visibly confused. "Suffice to say, I'm sure this isn't made by CyberLife."

"He must've made it himself then," Gavin said as nonchalantly as if making one of the most sophisticated android nerve wire in the world was as easy as making a scrambled egg. "Eli has always been good at tinkering."

"Eli?"

"Yeah, my brother. Elijah," he answered as he dried out his hair with the towel. "Elijah Kamski. Different surnames, I know. He was adopted."

Somehow the sky knew exactly what to do and let out a flash and a loud boom of thunder.

"What!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I have to thank everyone for staying till the end ;-;) I know that this whole fic is not the best thing ever and I really hope that you all enjoyed this ❤
> 
> I can't thank you all enough! 


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